Priest and Prophet

I feel I may have written on this subject before. But I feel I need to write on it again.

This Subject appeals to me ever since a friend of mine told me about it in a very comforting way. My friend is from a very high church traditionalist background, yet he was very insightful on this subject.

I had been wondering why I didn't feel like I fitted into the fabric of the church. Within the local church I had all kinds or roles yet the moment I tried for any kind of ministry I couldn't fit in. My friend pointed out that the church today is run very much on the basis of the priest and that I was a prophet! What's the difference, well, I wish I had taped what he said! It was brilliant. Since then I have been trying to develop my own understanding.

I have tuned in whenever I have heard people talking about this subject, which isn't often! But most speak in very lose terms. Some will point out that in the Old Testament the Prophet was higher authority than the king. Some will point out that the priest and then through to the high priest was man's representative before God, whereas the prophet was God's representative before man. Both of these are true.

The priest is a person of ritual and procedure. They are a person of order, regularity and ceremony. They were also a person of received practice. Very often the priest would carry out the duties give him and taught him without question. The questions an individual may have would probably be asked during the training.

The prophet on the other hand has a nature of randomness. Rather than being tuned into the people and tradition, he is tuned into God. That may sound offensive to the priest who would also say he is tuned into God, but if that were sufficient then God would not need prophets! The problem for the priest is that carrying out the procedures can become such a habit that there becomes a strong reluctance for change. The prophet is ready to go where God sends. The priest will stay with the people.

In the New Testament, we are all called priests, yet within the church we have people marked out as priests. There is no precedent for this in the New Testament. However, we have people who by nature are so priestly they are like little automatons going through priestly duties. They cannot see it any other way. Ironically we are old that not all are prophets, however, we are also told that all can prophecy and should seek for prophesy!

So, if we have people who, by nature are priests, who have taken over the church, hijacked it from what it was meant to be - Should those who are prophets by nature let them make us feel unwelcome?

I could see three positions in thinking for the prophet:

I don't know why I don't fit in.
I know why I don't fit in and that doesn't make it any easier.
I know why I don't fit in but I know that God wants me there.

Of course you might not know why you don't fit in but feel God wants you there. But knowing your role in God's scheme is a great asset. It doesn't make it any easier, but then no one said we were here for an easy life! It doesn't make it easier but it gives purpose.

God doesn't actually want His church run by a few who mark themselves out as priests over the priesthood of all believers. Believers are trapped under an Old Testament religion. The church is run like the temple in miniature. But that wasn't how it was meant to be. Temple;e worship was of the Jews, not of the Christians. Nowhere is the church instructed to carry out temple style worship.

Now, those who no this have two choices (probably more!!) They can either take this as a sign to go out and do it right. The problem with that is that those who have the nature of a prophet generally don't warm people. People tend to be drawn to priests, like sheep to shepherds. There is no reason in the Bible to not be with other believers so that only leaves one other option as I see it!! To be a pain in the backside, a thorn in the side of the priests!!

When Jesus did it, He picked the most inopportune moment during the high festivals to announce that He was the way. Many of the statements He made such as, "I am the light of the world" and "If any one is thirsty" were said during the very moment when the priests were performing the ritual of light or water!!

Now, that takes a lot and will probably find you out of fellowship in no time!! However, the way I feel we should go is to trust in the ministry that God has given us. If you are not in the church then God cannot work through you to balance the church and make it think. However, if you are there then God can use you in the church. Understand that as much as God loves the people in the church, He doesn't love what they have made of it any more than He loved what the Jews had made of the temple!! He will not strike the church down and when they pray He answers. But, if they wont listen to Him He needs people who will go in through whom He can work to bring about His will in the church.

The ultimate end is not to have priests and prophets, but that we would all recognise that we are all priests and prophets! As much as priests hijack the church, so unbalanced prophets can't stand the church!